University of Mississippi's Vaught-Hemingway Stadium at Hollingsworth Field where the Ole Miss Rebels play, in Oxford, MS. The Texas A&M Aggies, new to the Southeastern Conference, will travel to Auburn, Alabama, Mississippi State and Ole Miss this year. Monday, July 23, 2012.

University of Mississippi's Vaught-Hemingway Stadium at Hollingsworth Field where the Ole Miss Rebels play, in Oxford, MS. The Texas A&M Aggies, new to the Southeastern Conference, will travel to Auburn,

OXFORD, Miss. — Gene Barnes, an Arkansas native and Ole Miss alumnus, has long counted on the state of Texas in the lumber industry.

“We do business all over the country, and Texas is one of the better markets for us, even when everything else is going bad,” Barnes said.

In that sense, he sounds a lot like Southeastern Conference commissioner Mike Slive, who's now counting on Texas to come through for the powerful league with the addition of Texas A&M. Both men realize that to add Texas to their business, all they had to do was cross a river, not fly over multiple states, dispelling a notion about A&M's topographical place in the conference.

“A&M is a natural fit for the SEC,” said Barnes, 34, a rugged Rebels fan who recently visited Ole Miss's Vaught-Hemingway Stadium to take his son to a youth football camp. “Geographically, and also for what the Aggies have to offer in TV markets, because the SEC is looking to expand those all of the time.”

The Aggies have played the Rebels on four occasions, including twice in College Station, but never in Oxford. That changes on Oct. 6, when A&M plays its first SEC road game. Much like its in-state rival Mississippi State, Ole Miss takes great pride in a gorgeous setting surrounding the stadium.

Starting with The Grove, it's one of the top tailgating scenes nationally and an attractive 10 acres shaded by oak, magnolia and elm trees. A simple drive around the stadium, situated in a hilly locale, is worth the price of admission to a game.

At one point along the elevated Taylor Road, a glance to the right offers a look inside the football venue. A glance to the left offers a spectacular view down to baseball's Swayze Field, as designers of Ole Miss took full advantage of the region's breathtaking terrain.

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“I saw where Newsweek ranked Oxford as the No. 1 college town in America,” first-year Rebels coach Hugh Freeze said. “And Sports Illustrated said we're the No. 1 tailgating (scene) in the nation. Oxford, Mississippi, is just a great place to live. There are a lot of great places in the state of Mississippi, but I'd put that on the top.”

Visitors to the stadium and its indoor complex are greeted by a white gate with black lettering letting them know they're about to drive up “Manning Way,” named for legendary quarterback Archie Manning. But another Manning, Archie's son Eli, also made quite a name for himself at Vaught-Hemingway.

“People like Eli Manning and Michael Oher, Kendrick Clancy and Derrick Burgess are not only great ambassadors for Ole Miss, they choose to make their living there when they're not involved with their (NFL) teams,” Freeze said. “I'm sure Eli could live anywhere he wanted to.”

Instead, he and his wife, Abby, chose to reside in this charming town of about 20,000 that prides itself on arts and education — a cultural beacon of the South.

“The reason I came to Ole Miss over many other schools is because I thought if I never played a down of football, this is where I would want to go to school,” Eli Manning once said.

Novelists William Faulkner and John Grisham called Oxford home, too, and had Grisham penned a story of last season for Ole Miss, it would have read as a tragedy. The Rebels, in beleaguered coach Houston Nutt's last of four seasons, finished 2-10, including 0-8 in the SEC.

“Last season motivates you a lot, because you never want to have a losing record, let alone the worst record in the SEC,” Rebels linebacker Mike Marry said. “That motivates you to get things turned around fast.”

Enter Freeze, who led Arkansas State to a 10-2 record in 2011, in his lone season as the Red Wolves' head coach.

“I know how fortunate I am to stand before you and represent Ole Miss and our great university and Rebel Nation,” Freeze said in his best Faulkner flare. “I'm a realist, and our program is in a spot none of us are happy with. I get that, and I'm very anxious about starting the journey to get us being out of where we are, to back where we've been in years past.”